Higher and lower availability prioritization of storage cells in an automated library

Abstract

A computer-implemented method, according to one embodiment, includes: designating a first set of drives as higher availability drives, designating a second set of drives as lower availability drives, and correlating a first cartridge with at least one of the higher availability drives and a second cartridge with at least one of the lower availability drives. Each of the drives is configured to receive and store cartridges via one or more accessors. Moreover, each of the one or more accessors is assigned a servicing location corresponding to the lower availability drives. Other systems, methods, and computer program products are described in additional embodiments.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A computer-implemented method, comprising:
 designating a first set of drives as higher availability drives; 
 designating a second set of drives as lower availability drives; 
 wherein each of the drives is configured to receive and store cartridges via one or more accessors, 
 wherein each of the one or more accessors is assigned a servicing location corresponding to the lower availability drives; and 
 correlating a first cartridge with at least one of the higher availability drives and a second cartridge with at least one of the lower availability drives. 
 
     
     
       2. The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , comprising:
 reassigning the first cartridge to the lower availability drives; and 
 causing the first cartridge to be moved to a lower availability drive using the one or more accessors. 
 
     
     
       3. The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , comprising:
 reassigning the second cartridge to the higher availability drives; and 
 causing the second cartridge to be moved to a higher availability drive using the one or more accessors. 
 
     
     
       4. The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein the higher availability drives are accessible by each of the one or more accessors. 
     
     
       5. The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein the lower availability drives are inaccessible by one or more of the accessors at least some times, and are completely inaccessible by any accessor at least some times. 
     
     
       6. The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein the assignment of the cartridges is based on at least one predefined criterion selected from a group consisting of: previous cartridge access history, a user and/or system designation of the cartridge, and a cartridge access event. 
     
     
       7. The computer-implemented method of  claim 6 , wherein the user and/or system designation of the cartridge is given a higher weight in determining the assignment than any other criteria. 
     
     
       8. The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein the correlating includes:
 assessing previous usage of a cartridge; and 
 determining whether the cartridge should be assigned to one of the higher availability drives or one of the lower availability drives based on the assessing. 
 
     
     
       9. A system, comprising:
 a processor and logic integrated with and/or executable by the processor, the logic being configured to perform the computer-implemented method of  claim 1 . 
 
     
     
       10. A computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer readable storage medium having program instructions embodied therewith, wherein the computer readable storage medium is not a transitory signal per se, the program instructions executable by a controller to cause the controller to:
 designate, by the controller, a first set of drives as higher availability drives; 
 designate, by the controller, a second set of drives as lower availability drives; 
 wherein each of the drives is configured to receive and store cartridges via one or more accessors, 
 wherein each of the one or more accessors is assigned a servicing location corresponding to at least some of the lower availability drives; and 
 correlate, by the controller, a first cartridge with at least one of the higher availability drives and a second cartridge with at least one of the lower availability drives using at least one of a first procedure and a second procedure. 
 
     
     
       11. The computer program product of  claim 10 , wherein the first procedure includes:
 assigning the first cartridge to a first logical library to which at least one of the higher availability drives is allocated; and 
 assigning the second cartridge to a second logical library to which at least one of the lower availability drives is allocated, 
 wherein the second procedure includes:
 assessing previous usage of each cartridge; and 
 determining whether the cartridge should be assigned to one of the higher availability drives or one of the lower availability drives based on the assessing. 
 
 
     
     
       12. The computer program product of  claim 10 , wherein the program instructions are executable by the controller to cause the controller to:
 reassign, by the controller, the first cartridge to the lower availability drives; and 
 cause, by the controller, the first cartridge to be moved to the lower availability drive using the one or more accessors. 
 
     
     
       13. The computer program product of  claim 10 , wherein the assignment of the cartridges is based on at least one predefined criterion selected from a group consisting of: previous cartridge access history, a user and/or system designation of the cartridge, and a cartridge access event. 
     
     
       14. A computer-implemented method, comprising:
 designating a first set of drives as higher availability drives; 
 designating a second set of drives as lower availability drives; 
 defining a first logical library to which at least one of the higher availability drives is allocated; 
 defining a second logical library to which at least one of the lower availability drives is allocated; 
 assigning a first cartridge to the first logical library; and 
 assigning a second cartridge to the second logical library. 
 
     
     
       15. The computer-implemented method of  claim 14 , comprising:
 reassigning the first cartridge to the second logical library, 
 wherein each of the drives is configured to receive and store one or more cartridges via one or more accessors, 
 wherein each of the one or more accessors is assigned a servicing location corresponding to at least some of the lower availability drives; and 
 causing the first cartridge to be moved to a lower availability drive using the one or more accessors. 
 
     
     
       16. The computer-implemented method of  claim 15 , comprising:
 reassigning the second cartridge to the first logical library; and 
 causing the second cartridge to be moved to a higher availability drive using the one or more accessors. 
 
     
     
       17. The computer-implemented method of  claim 15 , wherein the higher availability drives are accessible by each of the one or more accessors. 
     
     
       18. The computer-implemented method of  claim 15 , wherein the lower availability drives are inaccessible by one or more of the accessors at least some times, and are completely inaccessible by any accessor at least some times. 
     
     
       19. The computer-implemented method of  claim 14 , wherein the assignment of the cartridges is based on at least one predefined criterion selected from a group consisting of: previous cartridge access history, a user and/or system designation of the cartridge, and a cartridge access event. 
     
     
       20. The computer-implemented method of  claim 19 , wherein the user and/or system designation of the cartridge is given a higher weight in determining the assignment than any other criteria.